paper

Definitions

General English

General Science

noun a substance made from the pulp of wood, rags or fibre rolled flat into sheets, used for writing on, printing, wrapping objects and other purposes

Accounting

noun a document which can represent money, e.g. a bill of exchange or a promissory note

noun shares in the form of share certificates

Information & Library Science

noun a material made of cellulose fibres derived mainly from woodpulp, which is processed into thin sheets and used for writing, printing and drawing

noun part of a written examination

noun a long essay on an academic subject

Law

noun documents such as bills of exchange or promissory notes which can represent money

Politics

noun a written report or proposal

noun an official document

Origin & History of “paper”

Paper gets its namefrom the papyrus, a sort of rush from which in ancient times paper was made. The Greek word for this (presumably borrowed from some Oriental language) was pápūros, and its Latin in descendant papȳrus passed into English via Old French papier and Anglo-Normanpapir. (English papyrus (14th c.) itself was an independent borrowing direct from Latin.).